Dynamic Ship reaches every carrier through a connector, so there is no set of less-than-truckload carriers hard-wired into the app itself. Some connectors go direct to a carrier and some go through a third party API provider that aggregates many carriers behind one connection. You can install as many connectors as you need, and freight and parcel rates then come back together in the same rate comparison.
Direct Connections Versus API Providers
A direct connection talks to one carrier using that carrier’s own interface, which suits a business with a negotiated contract and a carrier it uses heavily. An API provider connection talks to one service that in turn reaches many carriers, which suits a business that wants breadth without maintaining an account and an integration per carrier. Both models are supported at the same time, so a common configuration is one direct connection to a primary freight carrier plus one provider connection covering everything else.
Dynamic Ship supports more than thirty connectors in total, spanning parcel, less-than-truckload, and full truckload. Several of those are specifically freight oriented, and several are direct carrier connections rather than provider connections. On the parcel side, one connector is installed along with Dynamic Ship, which is why a parcel shipper can often start rating quickly while freight connections are still being arranged.
What the Connector Controls, and What That Means for You
This is the part that changes how you evaluate options. The connector, not Dynamic Ship, determines which carriers, services, and accessorial options are actually available, and how much detail can be sent. Two examples make the point. Hazardous materials options vary by carrier and by connector, so an option that exists on the screen may not be supported by the interface in use. Similarly, freight accessorials such as a construction site delivery are included in the rate that comes back, but most provider interfaces return a single total rather than a breakdown of base charge and surcharges.
Because the connector is a third party service, confirm capabilities with that provider directly rather than assuming parity across connectors. This matters most on the freight side, where service definitions, documentation requirements, and accessorial support differ considerably between providers. Businesses migrating from an older ERP often find a connector already exists for the service they use today, which means keeping the existing provider relationship rather than changing it during a system move.
Handling a Carrier You Have No Connection To
Freight rarely gets fully automated in one step, and Dynamic Ship accounts for that. An external carrier option lets a shipper record a rate obtained outside the system, whether from a broker, a phone call, or an email, by entering the carrier, the cost, the service days, and the tracking reference. Dynamic Ship then treats that entry as it would an electronic quote: freight price rules apply, the marked-up amount lands on the sales order, and the tracking reference is recorded. The shopping is manual, but the accounting and the customer-facing detail are not.
Relevant Tools
Dynamic Ship provides the rate shopping, packaging, labeling, and bill of lading generation, and hosts the carrier connectors that make freight rating possible from inside Business Central.
Carrier integration connectors, supplied as pluggable components, provide the actual carrier reach. Some connect direct to a carrier and others connect through an API provider, and each one defines the services and options available to Dynamic Ship.
The useful way to think about it is that Dynamic Ship supplies the shipping process and the connector supplies the carriers. Choosing a freight connector is therefore a real evaluation step with its own questions, not a checkbox during install.